Apparatus for cooling and guiding strip



Aug. 20, I940. w. c. M BAIN El AL 2,211,981

APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND GUIDING STRIP Filed Nov.,24, 195-7ZSheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

|NVENTOR$ William CMoBain and William KBlaftman.

M X fweu Au 20, 1-940. WQMQBNN mL 2,211 981 AFPARATUS FOR COOLING ANDGUIDING STRIP FiledNoyl 24, 19:5? 2 Shoots-Shoat 2 Fig.5-

' J28 INVENTORS- William CZMcBain and William K.Bla ffman MZPM PatentedAug. 20, 1940 APPARATUS FOR coonnve AND enmme s'mrr William C. McBainand William K. Blattman, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The Cold MetalProcess Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 1 ApplicationNovember 24, 1937, Serial No. 176,234

1 Claim. (01. so -51) This invention relates to apparatus for coolingand guiding strip and is useful particularly in connection'with the coldrolling of metal strip to reduce it to the desired thickness.

/ being carried on and it is an object of this invention to providesimple yet effective means for removing from the strip any heatgenerated thereon during rolling, and at the same time to guide thestrip accurately into the pass between the mill rolls.

It has been the practice heretofore to spray the strip and rolls duringrolling with a coolant such as oil or water or a combination of both.The use of sprays is in many cases objectionable on accountof the splashand mist thrown ofi into the air. When the flow of coolant is reduced inorder to cut down the excessive splash and mist thrown oif the mill, themill cannot be operated at its maximum speed. We have invented a novelapparatus for cooling and guiding strip as it enters a rolling millwhich overcome the objections to the previous practice and, inparticular, permit the mill to be operated at a speed greater than thatwhich has been deemed desirable heretofore.

In accordance with our invention we provide guides in the shape ofsubstantially fiat members adapted to engage opposite sides of the stripand I elongated in the direction of travel of the latter. In one or bothof these guides we provide longitudinal channels and means forcirculating a coolant therethrough. A complete understanding of theinvention may be obtained from the 40 following detailed descriptionreferring to the accompanying drawings illustrating a present preferredembodiment and practice. In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the 45 apparatus of ourinvention in side elevation in connection with a rolling mill;

Figure 2 is a corresponding plan view;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2;

50 Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the top guide showing part of ourinvention; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of the bottom guide. Referring now in detail tothe drawings, our invention is adapted to be utilized in connection witha rolling mill indicated generally at It.

While the mill may be of any desired type, we have illustrateddiagrammatically a 4-high mill having backing rolls II and work rollsl2. These rolls are journaled in bearings adjustably sup- 6 In the coldrolling of strip as now carried on, ported in housings in the usualmanner. Reels a considerable amount of heat is generated'in the l3 andIt on opposite sides of the mill III are strip by reason of the workexerted thereon in adapted to serve alt rna e y as nw n n reducing itsthickness. It is undesirable that winding up ee s f r eed ng S ip l5throu h the this heat be permitted'to accumulate in the strip l G d g Seav s 5 ooperate with the or the rolls of the mill in which thereduction is e ls, the ta ent omm n to the sheaves and the work rollsdefining what is known as the pass line of the mill.

Top and bottom guides in the form of blocks l1 and I8 are disposed onboth sides of the mill. The top guides I! are preferably movable out ofoperative position as shown at the right in Fig. 1, to permit the stripissuing from the mill to pass freely onto the winding up reel M. Theguides l1 and I8 are more clearly shown in Figs. 3 through 5. They arepreferably made of wood and comprise elongated members having flat-wiseengagement with opposite sides of the strip. The ends of the guidesadjacent the mill are bevelled so that the tips l9 thereof may extendinto the space between the Work rolls I2. The bottom 1 guide I8 issupported on a plate and a cross piece 2| extending between the millhousings. The top guide I! is movably supported as before indicated, byany convenient means adapted to cause it to engage the strip with thedesired pressure.

The top guide I1 is provided with a plurality of grooves or channels 22.The channels 22 extend inwardly from the end of the guide remote fromthe mill and terminate short of the end adjacent the mill. Dischargepassages 23 communicate with the channels 22. The end of the guide l!remote from the mill is bevelled as at 24.

The bottom guide l8 has grooves or channels 25 corresponding to thechannels 22 of the top guide. The channels 25 terminate at the end ofthe guide l8 remote from themill in a well 26. Coolant supply pipescommunicate with the well 26 and discharge passages 28 communicate withthe ends of the channels 25 adjacent the mill.

The coolant supply system is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A main supplypipe 30 has branches 3| and 32 for supplying coolant to opposite sidesof the mill. Valves 33 and 34 in these branches permit coolant to besupplied to one side of the mill or the other, as desired. From thebranches 3| and 32, connections 35 and 36 extend to nozzles 31 disposedabove the pass line, adapted to discharge coolant on the strip enteringthe mill. Valves 38 in the connections 35 and 36 permit the flow ofcoolant to the nozzles to be individually controlled. Connections 39'extend from the branches 3i and 32 to the wells 26 guides l8. Valves 40permit individual control of the flow through each of the connections39.

In the operation of the apparatus described, the valve 33 is opened whenthe strip is moving from the reel I3 to the reel I l and the valve 34 isclosed. The top guide I! on the entering side of the mill is moved intoengagement with the strip as shown in Fig. 1, while the top guide on theother side is retracted. Under these conditions, cooling fluid isdischarged onto the upper surface of the strip l5 as it moves from thereel [3 toward the mill. I'he coolant discharged by the nozzles 31 moveswith the strip toward the guides 11. On reaching the guides, the coolantenters and passes into the channels 22 wherein it is confined forfurther movement with the strip toward the mill. Since the coolant isintimately in contact with the strip during this period, a highlyeffective cooling action occurs. On reaching the ends of the channel 22,the coolant passes out through the discharge passages 23 and is returnedto a sump for recirculation. It will be understood that the movement ofthe strip toward the mill causes the coolant discharged thereon to movethrough the channels 22 and finally out of the passages 23. In otherwords, the movement of the strip under the coolant causes the latter tobuild up a slight velocity head. 1

Similarly coolant is supplied through the connections 39 to the well 26in the bottom guide l8 whence it flows along the channels 25 and outthrough the passages 28. The valves 38 and 40 permit variation in theamount of coolant supplied to the several portions of the width of thestrip.

On reversing the direction of movement of the strip, the positions ofthe top guides I! are reversed, the valve 33 is closed and the valve 34opened. The operation and effect of the cooling and guiding apparatus isthe same in the reverse direction as in the case of the first passpreviously described. In this manner the material in the bottomprotection against rusting of the finished strip is provided. A furtheradvantage of the invention is that it has made possible an increase ofat least 10% in permissible rolling speeds. It will be apparent that theinventian provides simple yet effective means for cooling and guidingfor the strip entering the mill, thus avoiding accumulation of heat orbuilding up of temperature in either the strip or the mill rolls. Wethus avoid overheating of the mill rolls and changes in the shape of thepass incident thereto. The material produced on mills equipped with ourinvention is thus characterized by a superior flatness and freedom fromgauge variations across the width of the strip.

Although we have illustrated and described but a preferred form andpractice of the invention, it will be understood that changes in theconstruction and operation disclosed herein may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaims. Instead of discharging cooling fluid on top of the strip fromthe nozzles 31, for example, the top guides may be made like the bottomguides and coolant delivered directly to the longitudinal channelsthereof..

We claim:

Apparatus for guiding strip into a rolling mill and cooling it prior toentry into the mill; comprising a pair of substantially flat guidesadapted to engage the strip surfaces fiatwise, said guides beingelongated in the direction of travel of the strip, the surfaces of saidguides adjacent the strip having longitudinal grooves therein, and meansfor circulating coolant through said rooves.

WILLIAM C. McBAIN. WILLIAM K. BLATIMAN.

